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13 beheaded in Pakistan
27/10/2007 19:03 - (SA)
Imamdheri, Pakistan - Militants seized and beheaded 13 civilians and security officers in northwest Pakistan after government troops launched an assault on a radical cleric's hideout, officials said on Saturday.
The beheadings took place late on Friday in the scenic Swat valley in North West Frontier Province, where soldiers clashed with fighters loyal to the cleric, who has been driving a fierce campaign to introduce Taliban-inspired laws.
The military earlier this week deployed more than 2 000 troops to the region to bolster efforts to crack down on militant attacks launched against government leaders and security forces.
An explosion tore through a security forces vehicle in Swat on Thursday, killing about 30 people, in an apparent reaction to the arrival of the troops.
The militants seized on Friday three police and three paramilitary officers shopping at a bazaar in Matta on the outskirts of Swat and later beheaded all of them, provincial home secretary Badshah Gul Wazir told AFP.
The bodies and severed heads were then paraded in front of local residents to scare them, he said.
Seven civilians were also seized from a van nearby by militants who then executed them, provincial police chief Sharif Virk said.
"They were also slaughtered by terrorists who accused them of collaborating with the government forces," Virk told AFP.
Virk said fighting had subsided on Saturday with only sporadic exchanges of gunfire between security forces and militants in some areas.
Friday's clashes at the hideout of cleric Maulana Fazlullah in the village of Imamdheri also left three rebels and two civilians dead, officials said.
A spokesperson for Fazlullah regretted the slaughter of the security officers but denied responsibility. Instead the spokesperson blamed government forces for provoking the attack.
"We are fighting because the government forces have attacked us," spokesperson Muslim Khan told reporters in Imamdheri.
"We are only demanding enforcement of Sharia (Islamic laws) in the district and withdrawal of the army and paramilitary from the region," he said, speaking before news of the civilian deaths broke.
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